Can what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding affect whether your child develops food allergies?

Published

Wednesday, May 7, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Many questions pop up when you’re growing or raising a new baby.

Among them, women often wonder if what they eat during pregnancy or breastfeeding will affect whether or not their child will have a food allergy.

Researchers have also been trying to answer this question for many years.

A baby’s exposure to food allergens during pregnancy and via breast milk is thought to be important. Experts believe it could allow the child to start developing helpful immune responses so they tolerate food allergens in their diet in future.

But to what degree this theory plays out, and whether a mother’s diet influences their child’s likelihood of developing food allergies, isn’t yet clear. Find out what we know so far.

Read the full article by CFAR Chief Investigators Associate Professor Jennifer Koplin and Associate Professor Debbie Palmer, and CFAR Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Desalegn Shifti in The Conversation.